A carbon capture facility with plans to start in Sturgeon County and eventually expanding into Westlock County has been awarded a Carbon Storage Agreement by the province.
Bison Low Carbon Ventures has been granted a 15,000ha sub surface sequestration lease on land in the Legal and Vimy area. The project would create jobs in the area.
“We expect to employ approximately six people at our site eventually (operators) and will not have a camp so all would likely reside within the area, or relocate,” said Matthew Brister, president of Bison Low Carbon Ventures.
The company would be both taxpayers in the rural municipalities and consumers of services but at this stage Brister says it’s difficult to estimate the project’s economic impact on the area.
Bison plans to submit an application to the AER in the early fall of 2024 and could start the project in Legal within six months. Their application seeks approval for CO2 injection for 15 years. It would start about four miles west of Legal. Depending on reservoir performance and market demand for carbon storage, the company would develop north towards Vimy.
The project likely wouldn’t expand into Westlock County before 2027 and would be subject to advanced stakeholder engagement and landowner discussions, said Brister.
The project would store industrial CO2 emissions captured from industries in the area and and be transport to Bison Low Carbon Venture’s site. The emissions would then be permanently injected in a deep saline aquifer in a process called Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
